The theft of electrical appliances such as power tools, from stores selling the same, is a serious problem costing such stores large sums of money. As the profit margin on power tools tends to be quite small, even a small percentage of theft can wipe out the profit that would otherwise be enjoyed by the store.
Various attempts have been made in the past to curb such theft. One such attempt involves the provision of electronic alarms associated with the appliances, which are triggered by unauthorized removal. However, such electronic alarms are quite expensive and so do not provide a satisfactory solution to the problem.
Another technique for preventing theft is to keep the appliances in locked cabinets such as glass cases, or in locked racks, from which they cannot be removed by the customer. However, this impedes the sales of the appliances, because, particularly in the case of power tools, the customers desire to handle the appliance and note its weight and its balance and its grip and its convenience of manipulation, before buying the same. So it is highly counterproductive of sales, thus to isolate the customers from the merchandise.